Personalized License Plates

The vanity license plate may live longer than did the dinosaurs. But  I don't get why people have to put their personal messages on the back bumper of their car, though there seems to be more and more people doing it. Maybe it's just a cheap way to personalize a car, to express an opinion, to show humor, as a way to show an exhibitionist side, or to advertise a business. But I don't want one (I know, you probably think I should have a personalized license plate that says 'Rants Too Much'). There has to be a better way to express oneself than on the back of a car. 

There is a limit on what a person can have written on his or her license plate Each state makes and requires car license plates. so each has rules about what can and can not print on them. In most cases the "prestige plates", as they call them, can't have profanity, obscene language, or text that ridicules a person, group, or religious belief or being, race or ethnicity. Outside of that, the person who orders a personalized license plate from their states Department of Motor Vehicles can put just about anything on the plate. The states get into murky constitutional free speech issues when they ban certain plates and not others, so if you want 'I POOP' to be on your license plate they will probably allow it. The law says that all states have to make sure there is free speech while they try to discourage putting offensive language on the plate. Good luck to them on that.

No driver is allowed to alter or add anything to a license plate. Therefore, for states seeking revenue, making those who want a personalized license plate pay extra to have the state print their content on them is a pretty good idea. I'm surprised more of the rebel types out there just don't make their own personal comments above, below or on the side of the state issued plates. There is nothing illegal about a metal strip adjacent/touching the required license plate stating whatever offensive statement the state won't put on a personalized plate. But then, bumper stickers already do that to some extent.

In the U.S. there are many millions of those vanity license plates, and usually they express some variation of  Look At Me, Aren't I Clever. It's a harmless and quiet way for those who want attention to get it. Uh, they are harmless unless you put something on your plate that insults too much for those who lack a sense of humor or sense of restraint. And then, there are those announcement plates like 'BLONDE HERE' which might invite a sexual assault or two in the parking lot when that blonde tries to enter her car. Those personalized plates can attract the crazies who might personalize the plate owners car or very person in a less than positive way.

Soooooooooooooo. If you had a personalized license plate, what would it say?